What could a single man like him possibly have to pack? All he had was a set of bedding and a change of clothes.
I changed out of those clothes just two days ago and they were still hanging outside to dry. I quickly rolled up my bedding and packed my luggage.
The captain pulled down the clothes hanging outside, gestured for his youngest son to follow behind him, and told Xu Ningyan, "You tidy up first, I'll have Tiezhu come and call you for dinner!"
After saying that, he led his men home.
After everyone had gone far away, Xu Ningyan turned around and opened the door to her room.
The house hadn't been lived in for a long time, so it didn't smell very good.
Xu Ningyan opened the doors and windows to let in some fresh air, and also took out the bedding from the closet to air it out as a formality. She definitely wouldn't be using this to sleep at night; she would just take out a clean set from her storage space.
After cleaning the room, I boiled a pot of water and used it to wipe down the tables, chairs, and bed.
The kitchen showed signs of use and wasn't very clean.
There was plenty of firewood, some of which I had saved up before and some that I had cut down and piled up later.
Since the dishes and chopsticks had already been used, Xu Ningyan didn't bother to clean them up. Anyway, she would only be staying for a day or two at most, and there was food in the space, so she could just make do with whatever she had.
She hadn't gone into Jiang Zhiyuan's room before.
There were only two simple pieces of furniture inside; everything else, anything related to Jiang Zhiyuan, had already been taken away.
Furthermore, the military region had conducted a thorough search, making it even more impossible for anything to remain.
The stove in her room was still there. They dragged it over, rearranged it, installed the chimney, lit some firewood, put it in, and tested it. It still worked.
The house quickly warmed up, and the chill of a place uninhabited for so long was replaced by warmth.
Xu Ningyan was taking stock of the things in the room, thinking about which things to give away, which things to take with her, and which things to leave for the brigade leader's family.
Then they heard a soft knock on the courtyard gate and a hushed voice: "Is Comrade Xu here?"
They're from the cowshed.
When Xu Ningyan came out of the house, she saw two figures standing outside the courtyard gate. The weather was so cold that they were wearing jackets with worn-out cotton-padded coats over them, and their faces were turning blue from the cold.
It was the little child Xu Ningyan had met before, and the grandfather and grandson professor from the agricultural university.
There was a basket and a patched bag at their feet.
Seeing Xu Ningyan come out, Professor Gu did not dare to approach, but whispered, "Comrade Xu, these are sweet potatoes and corn from the private plot. We specially kept your portion. We brought you some over first since we saw you were back, and we will bring you the rest tomorrow morning."
Xu Ningyan looked down and saw that the basket contained sweet potatoes, which must have been taken from the cellar and looked quite plump.
Needless to say, the patched pocket contained only corn kernels.
After finishing their conversation, the grandfather and grandson didn't dare linger and turned to leave.
Xu Ningyan stopped him: "Help me move these things inside!"
He then stepped aside to make way for them.
Professor Gu hesitated for a moment, looked around to make sure no one was watching, gritted his teeth, picked up his bag and basket, and went inside.
His little grandson followed behind, reaching out to help lift the bottom of the basket, trying to make things easier for his grandfather.
Upon entering Xu Ningyan's room, the warmth inside surprised the two of them. The room was much warmer than their cowshed, even warmer than their bed at night.
However, they didn't dare to look any longer and left after putting down their things.
Xu Ningyan had already made a bowl of brown sugar water for each person, and then stuffed a White Rabbit candy into Professor Gu's little grandson's hand: "Drink the sugar water before you go."
Professor Gu was a little flustered. They had been sent down to the countryside for so long that they had become used to being ignored and looked down upon.
When someone suddenly treats them kindly and normally, they don't know how to accept it.
She looked down at her little grandson, who was staring longingly at the White Rabbit candy, swallowing hard, but didn't dare to reach out and take it. Instead, he looked at her.
A pang of sadness welled up in his heart. Before, White Rabbit milk candy was just an ordinary thing for his family, but now it was a luxury they could only dream of.
He had intended to refuse, but ultimately swallowed his words, nodded, and gestured for his grandson to take it: "Thank you, Comrade Xu!"
Now that I've accepted White Rabbit milk candy, it seems a bit pretentious to refuse brown sugar water.
And on such a cold day, how comforting it would be to drink a bowl of steaming hot brown sugar water.
Thinking this way, Professor Gu decided to go all out. Although he didn't know what Xu Ningyan was after for being so good to them, he was just an old man with only this one son left. He had no money, no power, and no influence, so there was really nothing for him to gain.
The days of being sent to the countryside were too bitter; not only were they bitter, but there was also no hope in sight, and he had already given up hope.
Now, even if I don't make it through the winter, at least I'll have tasted something sweet before I die from drinking a bowl of brown sugar water.
Holding the brown sugar water, Professor Gu said frankly, "Comrade Xu, I'm just an old man now, powerless, penniless, and I don't even know how long I'll live. We've given you this bowl of brown sugar water, and we have nothing to repay you with!"
Xu Ningyan waved her hand: "It's just a bowl of brown sugar water. Consider it a thank you for helping me move my things in. Don't worry about it."
After thinking about it, I realized that the main reason I saw Professor Gu's grandson was that he was supposed to be seven or eight years old, but he looked only five or six. He was thin and wiry, and his head looked particularly big. He was wearing a cotton-padded jacket that belonged to some adult and was wrapped up haphazardly. He was also wearing cloth shoes with several holes in the front, revealing his toes that were blue from the cold.
The hands holding the bowl of brown sugar water were red, swollen, and cracked. The index and little fingers had chilblains that were ulcerated and oozing pus.
Seemingly sensing Xu Ningyan's gaze, Professor Gu's grandson uncomfortably put down his bowl of brown sugar water and shrank his hand behind his back.
Xu Ningyan said calmly, "What's there to hide from? I had chilblains all over my hands when I was a kid! Later, I used a few folk remedies and persisted for a few years, and they stopped coming back. It doesn't cost much. Your chilblains have already broken open. Go back and boil an egg, take out the yolk, put it in a spoon, and slowly roast it over a low flame to make egg yolk oil. Rub it on several times a day, and it will be fine. For the unbroken areas, slice a white radish, roast it until it's warm, and place it on the chilblains. Then, warm it by the fire for a few days, and the redness and swelling will subside."
Professor Gu also felt sorry for his grandson's frostbite, but he had no idea about these folk remedies. He only felt guilty because he didn't have the money to buy ointment.
Hearing Xu Ningyan say this, I quickly wrote it down.
However, he became somewhat disheartened. The people in the cowshed were struggling to even get enough to eat, so where were they going to get eggs? Even if they had an egg, they would naturally prioritize eating it to nourish their bodies, and there would be no extra to roast into egg yolk oil.
He sighed, patted his grandson's head, and said gently, "Drink the brown sugar water quickly so we can go back! We shouldn't disturb Comrade Xu."
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